Astrid Williamson (born 28 November 1968) is a Scottish musician, composer, and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Life and music career

Growing up in Shetland, she enjoyed playing the piano from an early age and The Shetland Folk Festival provided early experience both of local music tradition and stagecraft. She went on to graduate from the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

(RSAMD) as a classically trained pianist, where she also studied under composer

Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parent ...

. Astrid formed the band

Goya Dress Goya Dress was a Scottish alternative rock band, founded by singer/keyboardist/guitarist Astrid Williamson, bass player Terry de Castro and drummer Simon Pearson (musician), Simon Pearson. Their first Extended play, EP ''Bedroom Cinema'' was rele ...

in the 1990s with Terry de Castro & Simon Pearson, releasing EPs & only one album, ''Rooms'' (produced by The Velvet Underground's

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

) in 1996 before disbanding in 1998. Since then she has released seven albums to date via her own label, Incarnation Records,

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

and

One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In th ...

. During her career she has collaborated with other artists including the legendary DJ / producer, Arthur Baker, Oskar, The Bilderberg Group, Milk & Honey Band, Canadian singer songwriter,

Tara Maclean Tara Margaret Charity MacLean (born October 25, 1973) is a Canadian musician, singer and composer. Her hit songs as a solo artist include "Evidence", " If I Fall", and a cover of the Christmas song " Light of the Stable". She was a member of At ...

as well as adding vocals to releases from

The Hope Blister The Hope Blister were an ambient band that were active from 1997 to 1999. History The band was directed by 4AD Records founder Ivo Watts-Russell, with the music played by singer Louise Rutkowski, bass player Laurence O'Keefe and string arrang ...

and British indie supergroup,

Electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

. She has toured with

Brendan Perry Brendan Michael Perry (born 30 June 1959) is a British singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as half of the duo Dead Can Dance with Lisa Gerrard. Early life Perry was born in Whitechapel, London, England, UK, in 1959 to a mot ...

, providing keyboards and backing vocals on his 2010 Ark tour. Guitarist &

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

collaborator

Leo Abrahams Leo Matthew Abrahams (born 1977 in Camden, London) is an English musician, composer and producer. He has collaborated with a multitude of professional musicians, including Brian Eno, Katie Melua, Imogen Heap, Jarvis Cocker, Carl Barât, Regina ...

produced her fifth album ''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

'' in 2011. Astrid recorded backing vocals for the track 'I Stopped My Car To Fill Up' on 'Performance & Cocktails' by Welsh indie band,

The Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, Wales. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (bass guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Adam Zind ...

Astrid reunited with Goya Dress producer,

, for a live performance of his mixed media piece, 'Dead Agents' at the ICA, London in 1999 The song 'If I Loved You from her debut solo album '' Boy For You'' was covered by

Abra Moore Abra Moore (born June 8, 1969) is an American folk-styled rock singer-songwriter. Moore was a founding member of the Hawaiian rock band Poi Dog Pondering, but left to pursue a solo career after the group's move to Texas in the late 1980s. Her 199 ...

, retitled 'Someone Else's Mess' and featured in the film '

Serving Sara ''Serving Sara'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy film directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Matthew Perry, Elizabeth Hurley, and Bruce Campbell. The story follows a process server given the assignment to serve a British socialite with divorc ...

' Her first large-scale classical composition, ''

Requiem & Gallipoli ''Requiem & Gallipoli'' is the seventh album by Astrid Williamson and contains her first full classic composition. Williamson first performed ''Requiem & Gallipoli'' at Requiem for the Fallen, a D-Day Remembrance event at All Saints' Church, Hes ...

'', was first performed at

Hessle Hessle () is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, west of Kingston upon Hull city centre. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of ...

All Saints' Church as part of a 2015

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

remembrance event, which raised funds for a local Hull veterans' charity and aimed to make people aware of Operation Warrior Wellness, a programme addressing veterans'

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

using

transcendental meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...

. Following her involvement as part of Dead Can Dance's 2012-3 touring band she collaborated with the band's

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard (; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique ( ...

, co-writing 'Seven Seas' & 'Neptune' with her and 'Estelita' with Gerrard &

Daniel Johns Daniel Paul Johns (born 22 April 1979) is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter best known as the former frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociatives with Paul Mac a ...

Silverchair Silverchair were an Australian Rock music, rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Ben Gillies on drums, Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got thei ...

The resulting 2014 album 'Twilight Kingdom' also featured a cover of 'Too Far Gone' penned by

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Roman Cath ...

which was arranged and performed by Williamson & Gerrard. Her musical style is subtle, evocative and original and has been compared to

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

and

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

Discography

Solo albums

*'' Boy For You'' (1998) *'' Carnation \ Astrid Williamson'' (2002 \ 2003) *'' Day Of The Lone Wolf'' (2006) *'' Here Come The Vikings'' (2009) *''

'' (2011) *''

We Go To Dream ''We Go to Dream'' is the sixth album by singer-songwriter Astrid Williamson Astrid Williamson (born 28 November 1968) is a Scottish musician, composer, and songwriter. Life and music career Growing up in Shetland, she enjoyed playing the p ...

'' (2015) *'' Requiem and Gallipoli'' (2015) *'' Into the Mountain'' (2022)

Singles

*''Reach / Run'' picture disk (2004)

With Goya Dress

*''Bedroom Cinema'' EP (1995 – Nude Records) *''Ruby'' EP (1995 – Nude Records) *"Glorious" single (1995 – Nude Records) *"Crush" single (1995 – Nude Records) *''

Rooms In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors, that ...

'' album (1996 – Nude Records) *1994–1996 (2014 Incarnation Records \ One Little Indian (I-tunes release)

With Stephan Eicher

*'''Louanges album (1999) *'Sans Vouloir Te Commander' single (1999)

With Electronic

*''

Twisted Tenderness ''Twisted Tenderness'' is the third and final studio album by British supergroup Electronic, released in April 1999 by Parlophone in the UK and eighteen months later by Koch Records in the USA in 2000. It was re-released in 2001 as ''Twisted Te ...

'' (2000)

With Arthur Baker

*''1000 Years'' (Tommy Boy Silver Label – 2003)

With Lisa Gerrard

* ''Twilight Kingdom'' (2014)

References

External links

*
Astrid Williamson
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Astrid Living people One Little Independent Records artists People from Shetland 20th-century Scottish women singers Scottish songwriters 1968 births 21st-century Scottish women singers